After distinguished service, Shalini Urs retires
Prof
Shalini R Urs is attaining superannuation today after four decades of academic
journey. Prof Shalini started her career as an academic at the Department of
Studies in Library and Information Science, University of Mysore, Mysore in
1976. Precisely forty years back. Thereafter, it was a remarkable journey in
the field of library and information science. She has contributed immensely for
the growth and development of LIS in general and more particularly for digital
library movement in India.
She
is always at the forefront in designing and developing MyDLIS (the term coined
by Prof Shalini for LIS Department of Mysore University to create unique
identity) curriculum. The MyDLIS curriculum was far ahead of its time compared
to other LIS schools in Indian Universities. The syllabus was always kept
abreast with the current developments in LIS. It was MyDLIS which first
introduced digital library, digital library practicum,and personal development
and communication skills papers in LIS schools in India. Many LIS schools have
used MyDLIS Curriculum as a model to develop their LIS Curriculum. Such was its
uniqueness. Prof Shalini’s global outlook has helped MyDLIS greatly in having
model LIS curriculum.
Prof
Shalini was one of the very few academicians who sensed the emergence of
technology in a big way and its impact on LIS domain much before the Internet
era. Prof Shalini was instrumental in bringing 4thInternational
Conference of Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries (ICADL) one of the biggest
ever digital library conferences to India and organizing it for the first time
in Bangalore. Again in 2013, after a decade ICADL was held in Bangalore under
Prof Shalini’s leadership.
One
of her major success story, Vidyanidhi Digital Library and E-Scholarship Portal
was the first Indian digital library initiative which was created to facilitate
the archiving and accessing of Indian doctoral theses. Vidyanidhi was
envisioned as a national repository for depositing e-theses as early as 2004.
However, INFLIBNET, an Autonomous Inter-University Centre (IUC) of University
Grants Commission (UGC) started Sodhaganga on the lines of Vidyanidhi and
emerged as a national digital library and e-scholarship portal. It was Prof.
Shalini who envisioned the idea of developing national digital repository for
archiving and accessing doctoral theses in India. Vidyanidhi showed way for UGC
to come up with Sodhaganga. The name Sodhaganga (Reservoir of Intellectual Output)
resembles Vidyanidhi (Treasure of Knowledge).
Shewrote
a very lengthy scholarly article for Annual Review of Information Science and
Technology on “Digital Libraries”in 2002 with Edward A. Fox of Virginia Tech
University, who was a pioneer in digital library research. This is an
indication for her penchant for technology and its impact on libraries.
In
fact, in one of the scholarly meetings, Puttanaiah, Retired Librarian of
SJCE (JSS Science and Technology University), Mysore, and an alumnus of MyDLIS,
while sharing his thoughts on the lecture, mentioned that Prof. Shalini was
talking of importance of computer for information processing way back in the
70s and 80s.
Because
of Prof Shalini’s efforts and interests MyDLIS often used to organize
talks/lectures and seminars with eminent LIS scholars from universities and
research centers spreading across the world. Perhaps no other Indian LIS
schools have had so many invited speakers from other countries. Prof. Mike
Shepherd and Prof. Carolyn Watters from Dalhousie University, Canada, were
frequent visitors. There were so many scholars who have visited MyDLIS, but
unable to collect all the names.
The
Informatics Endowment Lecture Series on Digital Libraries was also started
under her tutelage. This lecture series is truly scholarly in nature and
many eminent researchers from academia and industry who have involved in
cutting edge research in information domain have given talks under this series.
To name a few, Prof. Sadagopan of IIIT, Bangalore, Prof. Balakrishnan of IISc,
Prof Jayanth Haritsa, Infosys Prize winner of 2014 in Engineering and Computer
Science, Prof. Vijay Raghavan of University of Louisiana, Lafayette, US and
other scholars had given lectures.
Prof
Shalini always ahead of her times, she was keen in observing what was happening
across the world in LIS domain. MyDLIS, because of her rich experience not only
redesigned and re-modified LIS curriculum butalso organized important
conferences and seminars to understand where LIS education was heading and what
information industry needs.
To
mark the40 years of its existence MyDLIS in 2005 organized one day seminar on
the theme of “Repositioning the information profession for the market place”.
Very recently while celebrating its golden jubilee MyDLIS organized two day
events called “Golden Jubilee Summit” on the theme of “Information Unbounded:
The Past, Present and the Future of Information Science”. The themes itself is
an indication that these events were organized to understand global library and
information science phenomenon and how Indian LIS community isresponding to it.
These events were organised on the behest of Prof. Shalini.
As
LIS was undergoing rapid transformation because of technology, she introduced
Master of Information Management (MIM) course at MyDLIS. The course was
designed and developed to produce new age information scientists and later
Prof. Shalini established ISiM (International School of Information Management)
which was probably the first Indian iSchool (Information School). Though it
looks like a kind of departure of Prof. Shalinifrom LIS profession and MIM and
ISiM both defunct now. We have to see these efforts of hers as experiment to
understand information science in different perspective and how information
science education combing other interdisciplinary subjects could contribute to
the evolving information economy.
Prof
Shalini’s lectures were always fascinating and interdisciplinary. She used to
bring literature, information science and other allied subjects to teach information
science for us in the class. Her lectures were always energetic and full of
intellectual verve. There was a space for questions and discussions. Students
were allowed to ask questions however silly it may be. She used to engage us
and made us to think out of the box. She used to encourage us to find jobs in
evolving information industry rather confined to traditional libraries. Because
of her encouragement many of her students have exceled in both academic and
corporate industry.
Whenever
Prof. Shalini was there for Ph.D. open viva-voca, there was ample opportunities
for discussions and debates for all of us. She was concrete and positive in her
discussions and encouraged students and other researchers to ask questions to
learn more, which was hard to see in her absence.
There
was elegancy and intellect in her lectures. She was one of the best
communicator. There were new jargons and words in her every class. I still
remember of picking up some of the words she often used in her lectures such as
‘paradigm shift’‘ contemporary society’, ‘evangelist’ ‘scholarly meetings’,
‘scholarly communications’ and many more. She is a quintessential professor.
Professor
love for books is a well-known secret. The very first class she took for us
when we were in MLISc she asked us about anyone reading Arundathi Roy’s “God of
Small Things”. Very recently she had posted a message in her Facebook wall
about completing the reading of Siddhartha Mukherjee’s recent tome “The Gene:
An Intimate History”. She always encouraged us to cultivate reading habits and
writing personal diary.
Her
unique attribute is love for designs. The MyDLIS conference brochures,
invitations, cover pages all have unique designs. The Vidyanidhi Digital
Library Lab cum conference hall at MyDLIS has one of the best interior designs.
ISiMinterior is also a treat to watch. Her aesthetic sense is such that no
other Departments in the campus have such unique interior designs.
She
created unique identity for MyDLIS through her contributions to the LIS
profession. She will stand tall in the annals of MyDLIS as one of the very best
teacher and her contributions to the LIS profession in general and in
particular Indian digital library movement will always be After forty years of
unflinching service at MyDLIS, University of Mysore, she is attaining
superannuation, the void which will be created because of this at MyDLIS is
hard to fill.
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
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